"Cluck Old Hen" (

Roud The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud. Roud's Index is a combination of the Broadsid ...

4235), also known by variants like "Cacklin' Hen" is a popular

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

tune in the

mixolydian Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' or ''tonoi'', based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; or a modern musical mode or diatonic sca ...

dorian mode The Dorian mode or Doric mode can refer to three very different but interrelated subjects: one of the Ancient Greek music, Ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' (characteristic melodic behaviour, or the scale structure associated with it); one of the mediev ...

(as in the score below which is in A dorian). It is played either as an instrumental or with lyrics, which vary from one version to another. One of the earliest reported transcriptions of the tune dates from 1886. The earliest recording is attributed to

Fiddlin' John Carson "Fiddlin'" John Carson (March 23, 1868 – December 11, 1949) was an American musician and singer who is widely considered to be one of the early pioneers of country music. Early life Carson was born near McCaysville in Fannin County, Georgia. ...

, in 1923.

Synopsis

The song describes the exploits of an "old hen" who performs various acts, such as laying ten eggs for railroad men. The song is made up of 'floating verses' with chorus of the song generally going:

Score

<< \new ChordNames \chordmode \new Staff \relative c'' >>

References

External links

History

Description
in "Traditional Ballad Index of Folk Songs from the English-Speaking World", Folklore department,

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Discussion thread
regarding lyrics and origins, from

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Recordings and transcriptions

The sheet music

Recording by Fiddlin' and Family Powers
information and

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download from

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